现金奖惩或可促使人们减重更多
Money talks when it comes to motivating people to lose weight, a new study shows. And it doesn’t have to be a ton of cash. Just receiving $20 a month for losing 4 pounds—or having to hand over $20 for not losing the weight—was enough to encourage many people to stay the course, according to a research.
In the study, 100 employee volunteers who were considered obese (BMI between 30 and 39.9—if your BMI is between 25 and 29.9, you are in the healthy weight range.) were placed into one of four weight-loss groups: two with financial incentives(金钱激励) and two without.
Those people in the financial incentive groups who met their goal received $20 per month, while those who didn’t had to pay a penalty(罚款) of $20 into a larger bonus pool(奖池). Participants in the two incentive groups who completed the study were eligible to win this bonus pool when the study ended.
When all was said and done, those who were paid money for losing weight lost more and were more likely to complete the study. Specifically, 62 percent of those who got paid for losing weight each month stayed the course, compared with only 26 percent of those who had no opportunity to receive financial incentives. Among people in the incentive groups, weight loss was slightly more than 9 pounds, on average. In contrast, participants who did not receive money to lose weight lost an average of 2.3 pounds.
More study is needed to see how long these changes can last, one of the researchers Driver noted. “The real challenge is to make this research longer, and see if we can develop a sustainable financial incentive model that lasts for longer than one year,” he said.
1.How can overweight people lose weight more successfully?
A Give them $20 in cash every month.
B Ask them for $20 in cash a month.
C Take $20 from them for losing 4 pounds every month. D. Reward them with $20 for losing 4 pounds monthly. 2. What does the underlined word “obese” probably mean?
D Reward them with $20 for losing 4 pounds monthly. 2. What does the underlined word “obese” probably mean?
解析：选D。D 细节理解题。根据第一段第二句“Just receiving $20 a month for losing 4 pounds—or having to hand over $20 for not losing the weight—was enough to encourage many people to stay the course”可知，只要一个月减重 4 磅就奖励 20 美元或者减重4磅失败就罚款 20 美元就能奏效，由此可知选 D。
2.What does the underlined word “obese” probably mean?
A Too happy.
B Very fat.
C Extremely high.
D Super healthy.
解析：选B。B 词义猜测题。根据后面的“BMI between 30 and 39.9—if your BMI is between 25 and 29.9, you are in the healthy weight range.”可知 BMI 是 25-29.9的人群为健康体重人群，由此可知BMI是30-39.9的应该是肥胖的人，由此推断 obese 表示“很胖的”。故选 B。
3.How much can a dieter(减肥者) get if he/she achieves the goals of losing weight for 3 months?
A $20.
B $40.
C $60.
D $80.
解析：选C。C 数字计算题。根据第三段的“Those people in the financial incentive groups who met their goal received $20 per month”可知每个月达成目标就奖励 20 美元，三个月都达成目标就能获得 60 美元。故选 C。
4.Which is NOT true about the study?
A One hundred overweight people took part in the study.
B People who got paid for losing weight lost more pounds.
C People in the incentive groups were less likely to finish the study.
D People are more likely to try weight loss with a financial reward.
解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据第四段的“those who were paid money for losing weight lost more and were more likely to complete the study. ”可知有金钱激励的参与者更有可能完成这项研究，C 项表述与此相反。故选 C。
5.What are the researchers most likely to do next?
A To make less study.
B To last the changes.
C To take a challenge.
D To develop a long-lasting model.
解析：选D。D 推理判断题。根据最后一段“see if we can develop a sustainable financial incentive model that lasts for longer than one year”可知，研究人员们想看看能不能开发出一种持续一年以上的金钱激励模式，即他们接下来最有可能会做这一项工作。故选 D。